A great receiver is the key to any home theater setup: it allows you to expand and connect more devices, gives you incredible control over sound quality and the individual components of your system, and it frees you of the limitations of your TV's speakers. Last week, we asked you which receivers you thought were the best, considering all of their features: inputs, audio quality, options, internet capabilities, and bang-for-the-buck. Then we took a look at the five best A/V receivers based on your nominations. Now we're back to highlight the winner.

A crucial and often overlooked part of your home entertainment setup is the humble receiver.…
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Leading the pack with just about 36% of the vote was the Onkyo TX-NR Series, most notably the TX-NR414 and the TX-NR616, both of which earned high praise from those of you who nominated it, and from our friends at the Wirecutter.

In second place with 25% of the vote was the Denon AVR Series, which pack in Denon's Audyssey sound optimization technology and tons of features at reasonable prices. Behind Denon in third with just over 21% of the votes cast was the Yamaha RX-V Series, which many of your praised for their bang-for-the-buck and their well-made Android app that allows you to control your receiver from your phone (although Denon isn't the only contestant in our rundown with mobile apps for remote control!) In fourth place was the slim and great-sounding Marantz NR Series, bringing in just over 9% of the total vote. Bringing up the rear in fifth were Emotiva's separates, for the home theater builder who doesn't want a single receiver, but would rather assemble their own discrete components.

The Hive Five is based on reader nominations. As with most Hive Five posts, if your favorite was left out, it's not because we hate it—it's because it didn't get the nominations required in the call for contenders post to make the top five. We understand it's a bit of a popularity contest, but if you have a favorite, we want to hear about it. Have a suggestion for the Hive Five? Send us an email at tips+hivefive@lifehacker.com!